A Project Car Without Compromise?

Project cars are inherently a compromise. For more performance, you ultimately give up something that the factory engineers spent countless dollars (or pounds, yen, marks, lira, francs, krona—whatever) developing. It takes a special kind of car-guy hubris to think that you can do something better than the factory. After all, to get the performance you want, you almost always need to give up something, be it reliability, durability, noise isolation, ride, comfort—something’s gotta’ give!

After all, the factory not only had those talented and experienced engineers and designers but typically a lot of resources to back them as well. What do most of us have? A small “shop” in a crowded garage that needs to also store a lawnmower, a handful of bicycles, some gardening tools and probably a few heavy, annoying bags of seed, soil, concrete or whatever. Those factory guys not only have a bigger pile of cash to spend, but a much nicer shop, too.

Building a project car without compromise is no mean feat. But it is doable. We think we’ve found somebody with just the right mix of experience, talent, skill and dogged parts sourcing required to create just such a car. Oh, and he’s got plenty of patience, too.

In the latest (and last) edition of Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car, we featured Zach Merrill’s heavily modified 1955 Morris Minor Traveller. Gone is the original 30-hp, sub-one-liter engine in favor of an early 1990s Toyota 4A-GE. The Japanese 1.6-liter engine shares its inline-four-cylinder arrangement with the original Morris mill, but everything else about it is different. Zach’s choice of the Toyota powerplant (used in both front and rear-wheel drive vehicles as well as the mid-engined MR2) was based on not only its output, but its packaging as well. He chose the 4A-GE because its side-mounted distributor (as opposed to the “distributor hanging off the end of it,” as Zach puts it) allowed the high-revving, twin-cam powerplant to fit snugly inside an engine bay designed for an 803-cc unit.

An engineer for Michelin in Greenville, South Carolina, Zach tends to think things through fairly analytically, so its wasn’t just a matter of stuffing the Toyota engine under the hood. Though the JDM-spec, 130-to-140-hp engine came from a tranverse-mount, front-drive Toyota, the transmission came from a mid-Eighties, U.S.-market Corolla GT-S coupe, a rear-wheel drive car that also offered up its four-wheel disc brakes and limited-slip rear end. Along with the driveline, Zach redid the body and also the interior, with the instrument panel featuring a custom wood layout and multiple gauges.

Virtually everything about the build is custom and it also works remarkably well together. Zach’s excruciating attention to detail ensured that the build worked together as a whole. His goals, though extensive, were pretty straightforward: “enough power, enough brakes, enough creature comforts to be usable as a travel car.” In short, he wanted a cool-looking Morris Traveller that could more than get out of its own way, still turn and stop strong, with a comfortable ride and decent seats and air conditioning so his wife could enjoy the road trips. He could have bought a modern car that did all of those things like any normal person, but instead he built just such a car that had all of the modern conveniences and performance and more charm and soul than virtually every new car combined.

All of that is in our story in the magazine. What those pages didn’t allow me to tell the story of just how much work and persistence it takes to get a home-built package to work so well together. Remember that thought about compromise? Plenty of car guys have improved handling and watched ride quality go right out the window, but Zach was prepared to compromise.

When a vibration manifested itself at certain speeds, Zach wasn’t having any of that. Below, in his own words, he describes the sorts of effort that can be required to iron out any compromises when building or personalizing your car.

I work for this really good company. I work for the research arm of the company and in and around some really sharp people and that’s always very good. When I built this car, I designed the driveline. Of course, it’s all just common sense kind of work. I know how to do it. I know how the driveline should work and how important balance is.

But when I got through with this car, I had a characteristic vibration and it would just come on about 48 MPH and it would be there until about 62 and it would be gone. I couldn’t make it go away. It felt like a driveshaft vibration. It was a high-frequency, high-pitched vibration and it was also a beat frequency. It was not a steady thing; it would cycle.

I knew enough to know that it was not one thing vibrating, but there were two, where the nodes intersect. What I had was a fairly complicated vibration problem. I have friends that are the same two guys who are co-inventors of the Michelin Tweel, which is a pretty high-tech airless tire. They’re just really smart guys. One of them, his name is Dr. Tim Rhyne and he is a Ph.D. engineer. Also, he taught classes at Clemson University in vibration studies. It’s one of his areas of expertise. I asked Tim and Steve Cron, the other Tweel inventor—both of them are just brilliant—to ride in the car as I wanted to show them this vibration to see if they had any ideas of what it might be.

They both rode in the car and I got it doing it and Tim started asking me questions. They asked the final-drive ratio, what’s the tire revs per mile, what’s the transmission overdrive ratio, what RPM range is this happening, etc., etc. He’s looking at his watch and he’s trying to determine the frequency of this. He said, ‘I got an idea of probably what’s going on. Let me model it for you.’ The next morning—they had stayed late that night, I guess—they had built a mathematical model based on the information I had given them. They said, ‘Come on in and we’ll show you what’s going on.’

So, he had an animated mathematical model that showed that the probable thing was that the rear axle was vibrating in torsion, if you can imagine it rocking back and forth on its axis, at 61 Hz, and that’s the frequency. He said, ‘What is happening is that you’ve built a system that has a natural frequency in torsion of 61 Hz. So, it’s like a tuning fork—it’s looking for a reason to vibrate at its frequency. You give it one and it will start its motion. Apparently, it’s getting stimulated between those roads speeds.’

‘Well,’ I said, ‘how do I fix it?’ ‘You can retune it so it’s got a different natural frequency, at which point you gotta hope you don’t intercept that somewhere. Or you can build a passive damper that’s tuned for 61 Hz and that’s got enough mass to also vibrate at 61 Hz, but just out of phase with the vibration of the axles.’ ‘Great,’ I said. ‘How do you do that?’ ‘Well, I’ve never actually done it. I just tell you how it works.’

At that point, I knew what I wanted to do but had no clue how to do it. But also I look at cars all the time, so I see all of these passive dampers on production cars. Those guys didn’t design a car to need a passive damper. They designed a car and discovered it needed a passive damper. Their solution was to put this passive damper and make the problem go away rather than start over and redesign it.

Again, using some connections, I called another friend who also works for Michelin who works with Ford because I see those things on Fords all the time. I asked him, ‘Have you got anything that happens to be a 61 Hz passive damper?’ The guy said, ‘Hmmm, that’s a pretty high frequency. Actually, you must have really small tires or a really high axle ratio if you need that.’ I got all of that: a 4.30:1 ratio with 23-inch tire. ‘The highest thing we’ve got is 48 Hz.’

I went crawling through junkyards pulling passive dampers off of things. Fifteen dollars apiece will buy all you want of them. I bought one, studied it, figured out how it worked and then figured out how to tune it and then figured out how to make it work on the car.

It’s magic! Once you get there, it absolutely works. But when it’s supposed to be 61 Hz, and it’s actually tuned for 63 Hz or something, it doesn’t work at all. It’s got to basically mimic what’s going on and vibrating out of phase to cancel it.”

So, it was like the most out of my element I was during the whole construction of this car for that silly piece right there. It was an awesome thing, an awesome learning experience. Basically, it’s a big, firmly mounted weight that’s suspended in rubber. It, essentially, is a tuning fork, just a big, massive tuning fork. I made a big, heavy bracket and mounted it forward of the leading edge on the driver’s side relative to the driveshaft. It’s basically a big, 10-pound weight on a bracket. But, it’s magic.

A lot of things were tuned for noise, vibration and harshness, but that was the biggest one. The exhaust system, I worked on that several times. I’m probably on the fifth iteration of that exhaust system before I got it sorted the way I wanted it, the sound I wanted with enough isolation so that it didn’t transmit harshness into the vehicle.

The first exhaust system was basically hung just like the Morris exhaust system. It would just light up that rear-view mirror because that rear-view mirror is mounted on the center post of the windshield. And that’s also like a tuning fork—just looking for a reason to vibrate. I had to isolate the exhaust system and make a tuned mount for the rear-view mirror.

So, there you have it. Even after solving the drivetrain problem, the man made a passive damper for his rear-view mirror to iron out the exhaust vibrations rattling through the car—even after working out those kinks in the exhaust as best he could. When it comes to carefully ironing out such details on a build, I suppose it helps when you work in the research arm of a Tier 1 auto parts supplier at one of their major research and development centers and can call on two certified geniuses in the field of vibration science, but Zach still had to figure out the ultimate solution on his own, a solution that involved scouring through a junkyard, which most of us end up doing on a build or restoration anyway.

While there are some who might see what Zach has done as sacrilege, what with converting his sluggish Minor Traveller into a pretty spirited—and comfortable—tourer, we’d beg to differ. Rather than sacrilege, how about inspiration?

Still, his achievements on the Morris are notable, from the reliable performance of the Toyota 4A-GE driveline to the sharp handling to the properly isolated noise and vibration. It takes a pretty special sort of patience—and access to some talented engineers, of course—to create a project car seemingly free of compromise with updated mechanicals that still has all the charms of the original. We salute Zach Merrill for a job well done.

Ian Jaysays:

June 6, 2017 4:50 pm

Very nice. Sir Alex would be proud especially the back story about tracing the vibration. He originally wanted a flat four engine, but they went with a pre-war lump because it was cheaper. Only the space required for it was kept. Minors have a happy face matched only by the proud owner of such a car
My parents bought a brand new Minor in the early ’50’s when my father was doing his PhD in Edinburgh. They toured Europe in the thing because they could fold the seats down and sleep inside. The engine certainly lacked power. When brand new, it wouldn’t go much faster than about 40 mph. He brought it back and used it in northern Ontario until the logging roads and frost boils wore it out.

SCOTT NJsays:

June 6, 2017 4:57 pm

Jornsays:

June 6, 2017 5:44 pm

I have had a love for old British cars for a long time and have owned various Austin/Morris Mini’s over the years. So the Minor is never far away when at car meetings and events intended for Brits. And this has to be one of the most beautiful Minor’s I have seen in a very long time!

mikesays:

June 6, 2017 8:05 pm

Drool worthy!
Here we have classic good looks combined with modern, reliable mechanical components such that the car can be used in today’s world.
Had it been left with 1950’s technology it would be useless.

Chris Sawyersays:

June 6, 2017 8:15 pm

“Again, using some connections, I called another friend who also works for Michelin who works with Ford because I see those things on Fords all the time.” I’m sure the guys at Ford are going to love reading that sentence.

Joe Essidsays:

June 6, 2017 10:03 pm

Kevin Prestonsays:

June 6, 2017 10:21 pm

Sorry, don’t agree.

That’s the biggest compromise of all. You stripped out the soul of a car and threw in some random power plant. Why not use the whole Toyota, remove the body, rip the Minor apart, and weld that body onto the base of the Toyota. I mean, why not go all the way.

It’s not a Morris anymore, just the way as when a 350 SBC is tucked into a Ferrari is no longer a Ferrari.

Carnutsays:

June 7, 2017 10:48 am

And I, sir, disagree with your opinion. It’s not like he is passing it off as “original”. He built a useable, roadworthy vehicle that serves his purpose, puts a smile on the face of those fortunate enough to see it, and introduces many to the Morris Brand who otherwise would have no idea. Besides that, it remains much more a Morris this way than if it were riding on a Toyota chassis.

Terry Sheasays:

June 7, 2017 11:52 am

I think I would have to disagree as well.

Zach has kept much of the soul of the Morris–the look, the interior, the suspension (for the most part–Morris’ rack-and-pinion steering was ahead of its time) and given it a reliable, not-too-crazy but more powerful engine and related mechanical upgrades to keep up with traffic so that he can drive it all over the country and back.

It’s still very much a Morris, but with Zach’s fingerprints all over it.

Tim Kernsays:

July 13, 2017 2:46 pm

Ah, Kevin Preston, I tried it your way with my own Traveler. I dropped my full-race 1098cc Midget G/P engine in, and it did pep things up quite a bit.
HOWEVER, though the little wagon would now easily go 80mph, it had 60mph brakes at best. The first time I tried to stop from an elevated speed, they faded away completely and almost immediately, and I was still doing 40.
I much prefer Zach’s “whole car” approach!

Alansays:

June 6, 2017 11:17 pm

Bruce Burnssays:

June 7, 2017 8:47 am

I had a mores van in my young surfer days in Australia and seeing one brings back fond memories of a carefree youth , the good old days , happy days as we all are when we are young so , so nice to see someone preserve one for future generations to see cars from the past , well done .

Earlsays:

June 7, 2017 1:37 pm

John C. Kovalosays:

June 7, 2017 11:09 am

A great, inspired upgrade – KUDOS!

If you could find that wormhole and go back in time to show it to the factory boys back in its production days, I’d say they’d be MOST interested and would snap up as many details for production as possible. What was NOT mentioned by Terry in his first sentence while praising the capabilities of a factory were the LIMITATIONS inherent in mass production:
That every part must be cost-analyzed to a fraction of a penny
That you are limited in materials by contractual relations with your suppliers, and by what they are capable of supplying
That you are limited by the equipment and tooling on the factory floor, and that every single change in tooling is expensive and cuts into development time
That you are limited by the skill of the line worker, who must do a repetitive task properly day after day for months at a time
That you are limited OVERALL in assembly time, as well as monetary restraints due to hourly pay, union demands, etc.
The list goes on and on.

And so Zach’s little garage microfactory was free to deal with problems that would have had line bosses tearing their hair out. It’s not inconceivable that some of those problems that took Zach weeks to solve might have, on the factory floor, demanded a solution in days or less.
In any respect, rather than destroying the soul of the car, I suspect you’ve taken that stodgy little lump and made it BLOOM to its full potential – enjoy! You deserve it.

Terry Sheasays:

June 7, 2017 12:00 pm

Well, I don’t think I excluded those points by not mentioning them.

Perhaps I should have added that the factory guys were trying to make a car that appealed to as many people as possible for the intended purpose and could be made to make the most money for their bosses as possible. I am sure we could map out a matrix where all of those points meet, but Zach was trying to meet only one point–the car he wanted.

He modified this Morris with some pretty specific goals in mind and then spent an awful lot of time making it right.

You are right that Zach’s limitations were very different from the factory, but so then were his resources, as were his goals.

I have always imagined a project car with the mindset that I need only make myself happy, not the engineers, the accountants, the suppliers and certainly not the customers. Okay, maybe the accountant in my house, a.k.a. the better half. But other than that, the shackles are off, right?

Raymond Costasays:

June 7, 2017 1:08 pm

I also have a modified Morris Minor Traveller. These cars are like Tri-Five Chevies. You can go from stock to wild and everything in between because parts are readily available. My car is more typical than the one in the story. The suspension is all stock, however I changed out the running gear for that of a 1971 MG Midget. I rebuilt the 1275 engine, upgrading it to about 70 HP. It is smooth and reliable, and best of all, it bolts right in with few modifications. The exhaust system uses a tube header and larger exhaust pipe. I used seats from a Japanese import. The front disc brakes come from the same Midget, and I added a booster. I run halogen headlights and an alternator. This car is a hit everywhere it goes and earns prizes. Best of all, anyone with some mechanical know how can do this pretty much by the book, and it isn’t expensive. The car is small enough that you can do the work in a one car garage and have room to spare. Next up for me will be some suspension improvements. Talk about fun!

Michael Yountsays:

June 7, 2017 1:58 pm

I’ve seen and drooled over this car many, many times at the Euro Auto Festival in Greenville, SC each fall. It is a little piece of perfection on the show field every year. The owner/builder went to great lengths to hide the Japanese origins of the motor making it look as if it came this way from the factory. I had to really look to figure out what the motor was out of — helped that my wife had an ’85 MR2 back in the day. And the little trailer he normally has behind it is equally impressive.
Kevin doesn’t quite have it right — the owner has finally allowed the Morris to be all it can be.

Johnfromstaffssays:

June 7, 2017 3:05 pm

As an old Englishman I feel that I am at least as well qualified as any of you to comment on an old English motor car.

I like it, and would like to offer my congratulations to Zach, who clearly knows what he wants, and knows how to go about getting it. As the Minor was originally conceived W R Morris had insisted on the use of a prewar 918cc flathead engine. Following the formation of BMC a more modern design of pushrod ohv engine was available in the Austin parts bin, but of only 803cc. It was barely powerful enough for the Austin A30, and the Minor Traveller was a much heavier car but the engine had to be used because production of the flathead was to be phased out. Such was the shortage of resources at that time in UK that another three years had to pass before the engine could be uprated in 1956 to 948cc, giving the Minor a 70mph performance, just.

Zach has put all that behind him, used well chosen parts, and completed a project to be proud of, which I am sure he is.

Zach Merrillsays:

June 7, 2017 3:51 pm

Thank you to all of you who took the time out of your day to read Terry’s article and leave a comment. I fully understand that this car (or any particular car, for that matter) is not everyone’s cup of tea, and I can appreciate that…but I like this one, and I certainly enjoy driving the it…and the car now gets to go places that would be well out of its original reach. For anyone who is concerned that I may have chopped up a Ginny, that was not the case. When I purchased the car, it was a very incomplete “parts car” that had been wrecked in 1968 and stashed in a barn to serve as a parts donor for its six assorted Minor siblings in the owner’s derelict Morris Minor collection.
Its entire drivetrain and interior were long gone, as were whatever else any one of his other cars had ever needed over the course of the previous three decades. I bought this car in late 1999 when the storage barn property was changing hands and the car was (as stated by the previous owner) just going to be “mashed” if not sold. Split-screen Travellers are seldom seen, and I wanted one. My goal was to give this one a new lease on life and really use it.
I once saw a bumper sticker that stated, “Good girls go to Heaven; bad girls go EVERYWHERE”. Well, now this old girl gets to go everywhere…

Bill Lightfootsays:

June 9, 2017 12:59 pm

Zack, Congratulations! What a fantastic project. As another poster said, you have made the Morris all that it could be, and should be. I love the looks of them but, let’s face it, they were little dogs as far as performance goes. In one of the contemporaneous road tests in an American magazine the test Morris Minor wouldn’t even go up that very steep street in San Francisco! They had to back it up … and that was a brand new car!

Hanno Jaan Niidassays:

June 12, 2017 1:02 am

Congratulations from my part, Zack, as well. You’re a man after my own heart ! You’ve built a beautiful Morris Traveller. I’ve built 2 cars (a Plymouth Valiant with the Slant-6) engine and a Triumph TR7 cabriolet with the 16v engine, and am now finishing a Moskvitch 412 coupé, with a factory fuel-injected 1.9l engine, 5-speed transmission and LSD. The Triumph doesn’t have major NVH problems because I’ve used mostly factory parts (except for the brakes and the LSD), but I have NVH issues with the Plymouth I’d like to resolve. I’d be most grateful if I could contact you to discuss.

Michael Yountsays:

June 7, 2017 6:13 pm

“For anyone who is concerned that I may have chopped up a Ginny….” No way — your car, your money — your decision, ginny or basket case. 2nd owner, exceptionally clean ’82 Volvo 242 with LS3 power in my garage. Anyone who’s unhappy about that is free to keep offering me money until I sell it to them whereupon they can return it to original. Hope to you again in a few months at Eurofest Zach…..

Bruce Hsays:

June 7, 2017 8:35 pm

Terry, good for you sir. You took the car of your choice, and a very interesting one at that, and did something good with it – made it better! And don’t worry about the purists. These are machines and meant to be enjoyed. Right on. I love Hemmings for stories like this. It’s my escape from the rat race. Thank you both.

Terry Sheasays:

June 8, 2017 9:16 am

John Bowesays:

June 7, 2017 9:14 pm

I have known Zach and his lovely wife Libby since about 2006. We met at Stowe Vt. British Invasion, late in Sept. I came out of the Hotel room one morning to see Zach cleaning the morning dew off the Morris. We started to talk, and he revealed to me that they had drove the Morris from North Carolina the previous day or two….. I was totally taken aback… “You drove this from where”??? It was then he showed me “whats under the bonnet”. I was absolutely in awe. The details were beyond belief, the right tags, the right screws, etc…. the list could go on forever. Zach and Libby fell right into our group that goes every year to BI. So, on Saturday evening we all go out for a formal type Dinner. When we go to leave from the Hotel, Zach hands me the keys to the Morris… At first I refuse, then I give in. To drive this 1955 Morris is a true experience. I felt guilty giving him my keys to a very tired 1995 Suburban. Thank you Zach. See ya, John Bowe

Mickey Dorseysays:

June 7, 2017 9:24 pm

For those of us fortunate enough to know Zach, which includes about every body interested in cars, we know him as a quiet, unassuming, and humble person. He got that from his Dad, who also handed down his extarordinary collection of wise quips like the one above. Zach grew up in his Dad’s junk yard playing in cars we all dream about. His toys were car parts and I have never met anyone with a better understanding of the automobile. I sincerely hope that these magazine and online articles will ignite a bonfire of interest in what Zach has accomplished with both his hobby vehicles and his technical contributions as a Michelin Research Engineer. Congratulations Zach!

51 Ford Guysays:

June 8, 2017 1:02 am

Jeff Zekassays:

June 8, 2017 2:19 am

Basically, this Morris Minor is a hotrod. If you like hotrods, you’ll like it. As a collectible, it has lost its value. That said, back in the 60’s it was common to put Volvo or Datsun motors into MG’s: double the horsepower, and reliable as well. So, actually, this might be considered a “period correct” resto-mod, more so, if he had used a Japanese motor from that era.

Mickey Dorseysays:

June 8, 2017 4:45 pm

There are thousands of hot rods that are more valuable than their “collectable” original restorations. Call it what you want, but unless you have seen this car in person, you can’t understand how original it looks. Zach says a Morris Show Judge asked him to bring it to a show and did not know it was not original until the details were pointed out. “Not a collectible”? Don’t fool yourself!

March 27, 2018 4:40 pm

Steve Angelinisays:

June 8, 2017 6:55 am

I loved that article featured in the last issue of HS&E on the Morris Minor and this well written piece is much appreciated. Thank you Mr. Shea fort he follow up. This is the kind of story I used to look forward to every month in my favorite car magazine. One I would read every word of from cover to cover. What ever happened to to lead to its demise? Have all the baby boomers forgotten the cars they grew up with?

Steve Angelinisays:

June 8, 2017 8:10 pm

And don’t forget that this Traveller was, as stated in the HS&E article, a “barn find with no engine.” It had been serving as a parts car. Zach Merrill rescued this old lady from the crusher. I doubt she would complain about the outcome.
Gorgeous!

Tony Woodsays:

June 9, 2017 4:40 am

Oscar Peredasays:

June 9, 2017 5:00 pm

There is nobody nicer in the car hobby than Zach!
The quality of work and thought into this car is on par or better than half million dollar car I’ve seen. And it has to be the best driving Morris Minor on Earth.

Davidsays:

June 11, 2017 6:18 pm

cork marcheschisays:

June 11, 2017 9:04 pm

I have owned 4 Travelers. Each one a little nicer than the previous but I never got to this any thing this wonderful.
I would love to know if it ever comes up for sale.
What a beautiful car!!!
And air conditioning?

Dan Hsays:

June 12, 2017 11:47 am

You certainly did it right!
I’m right now trying to stuff a Chevy Tracker twin cam into one right now and it’s not a easy fit!
The Tracker four (Isusu) is just a bit to long to fit well. I had to do way to much retro fit in the firewall area to squeeze it in.
What are you using for a fan? I have two I’m planning to mount in between the grill and a wide but short radiator I found in the back room at a junk yard.
Also, what did you use for a master cylinder and peddle assembly?
Great job!
Dan H.